Grandmother-of-four performs musical tribute to Great War veteran John Parr

A grandmother-of-four has created a musical tribute to a Finchley man who was the first British casualty of the Great War.

Private John Parr, who lived in Lodge Lane, North Finchley, was killed in the opening minutes of the first battle of the war at Mons in Belgium in August 1914.

Actress and writer Lynn Radnedge, of Cyprus Avenue, Finchley, wrote a musical tribute in his honour, called When the Poppies Bloom Again.

She said: "I took one version of this show to the Edinburgh Festival five years ago to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the First World War.

"This time I have reworked it to include lots of Finchley references - the story of La Delivrance, the statue on Regents Park Road created to commemorate the first French victory in the war, the air-raids in Barnet and the gun depot in Summers Lane and the military convalescent hospital at the top of Hendon Lane.

"It features a host of popular sing-along songs - the songs the soldiers took across the sea with them and which lifted their spirits as they faced the horrors of the trenches.”

She performed the one-woman show at St Mary-at-Finchley’s church hall in Hendon Lane on Monday but will put on two more performances this summer.

Mrs Radnedge said she would be willing to put on a performance on August 4, the centenary of the start of the war.

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